Fuel Cost Changing Cruising Plans?

[rslifkin]

How about an electric OB for the dinghy?

It's an option. But they're even more expensive (and would limit us to displacement speeds only in the dinghy), so it would be harder to justify it as a long term cost savings measure compared to something like a small 6hp that should still give us the option of planing, yet will be pretty easy on fuel (aluminum hard dinghy doesn't need a ton of power to plane, 6hp with an appropriate prop should plane 2 of us).

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Yesterday, 12:46 PM:

To be fair to the North Island vendors and not unduly mislead, or freighten BC boaters, marine diesel in Port McNeill this morning is still $1.69.9 per litre.

So still $5.05US per US gallon. So “$8.00 USD a gallon” is still homemade bologna.

Thanks for the update.

 

[BandB]

In the US, July 2008, Diesel peaked at $4.77. Regular Gas peaked at $4.05. Obviously both were more expensive on the water.

We'll just imagine we're in Europe or the Caribbean and the prices will seem normal.

No, we will not change our cruising plans.

Those I feel for are minimum wage and low wage earners commuting to their jobs.

 

[soin2la]

Those I feel for are minimum wage and low wage earners commuting to their jobs.

Such great perspective and a good reality check.

 

[Arthurc]

My long summer trip is with a sailboat that does 6.5kts, perfect excuse to throttle back and sip fuel

When you think about the difference in price versus just the total cost of fuel during a normal year it’s not that bad, certainly not worth changing a trip.

 

[rwidman]

Rising fuel prices is good news for full-displacement, single-engine trawlers. And I've got four full tanks of diesel.

Rising fuel prices are not good for anyone. Rising fuel prices don't just increase the cost of running your boat, they increase the cost of goods and food. That causes inflation all around.

Bottom line- Your money isn't worth what it was last week.

 

[BandB]

Rising fuel prices are not good for anyone. Rising fuel prices don't just increase the cost of running your boat, they increase the cost of goods and food. That causes inflation all around.

Bottom line- Your money isn't worth what it was last week.

Definitely true. Trucking surcharges already hitting. Here is an article discussing some of the impact. Fuel is the 2nd largest expense of trucking at 43.3 cents per mile as the average truck gets 6.4 mpg.

 

[NEtrawler58]

With the rise in fuel prices along with the rise in inflation, it's also bad for those in retirement living off their life's savings. The stock markets are way down while inflation is way up so a double whammy for those relying on their savings. Not only is the value of their savings decreasing because of inflation, but withdrawing from an investment account in a down market can be devastating.

 

[bowball]

With the rise in fuel prices along with the rise in inflation, it's also bad for those in retirement living off their life's savings. The stock markets are way down while inflation is way up so a double whammy for those relying on their savings. Not only is the value of their savings decreasing because of inflation, but withdrawing from an investment account in a down market can be devastating.

True.

But the S&P is up over 30% since January 2020 as well, even with the latest decline. (Only 10% since January 2021. However, 55% in the last 24 months). As long as you bought the S&P before June 2021 you are still in positive territory. If you are in fixed income then that’s problematic with inflation. No great answers.

 

[bogranjac1]

If your worried about fuel costs then you shouldn't be boating

 

[NEtrawler58]

If your worried about fuel costs then you shouldn't be boating

That's easy enough to say, but for those who love boating but are not wealthy, it makes a big difference in their ability to go boating if fuel is $3 vs. $10. There is a price point that affects everyone. If your fuel costs double or triple this year, maybe it doesn't affect you, but there is a price that will give almost everyone pause. Let's not be insensitive to those out there who boat on a small budget.

 

[rgano]

That's easy enough to say, but for those who love boating but are not wealthy, it makes a big difference in their ability to go boating if fuel is $3 vs. $10. There is a price point that affects everyone. If your fuel costs double or triple this year, maybe it doesn't affect you, but there is a price that will give almost everyone pause. Let's not be insensitive to those out there who boat on a small budget.

If I did not do virtually all mechanical work on my boats including bottom painting in the yard, I could not justify the expense of a boat. 10-buck diesel will see it hanging in the cradle a lot more. BTW, boatlift was a recoverable property improvement decision.

 

[rslifkin]

If your worried about fuel costs then you shouldn't be boating

This is a common attitude, but honestly, it's BS. Fuel is rarely the biggest cost in boating, but depending on what kind of boating you do, etc. it can be a significant cost. Not everyone who boats necessarily has the budget to absorb a sudden, large increase to their boating costs without having to reduce usage or make other compromises.



I did the math on our 2021 season out of curiosity. Looks like fuel was just about 17% of our total costs (summer dockage, winter storage, insurance, transient dockage costs, boat maintenance, boat upgrades). We're not traveling full time, so I'm not counting food when traveling (it's pretty close to what we spend when we're home) and our transient dockage costs aren't all that high.


Looking at the numbers above, fuel isn't a massive chunk of the boat budget, but it's still significant. If you increase the cost of fuel by 50% and keep everything else the same, fuel is now up to 23.5% of our costs and increases our total costs by 8.5%. That's not world ending, but it's still significant. If we were traveling more, unless we stayed at expensive marinas a lot, fuel would become more significant.

 

[NEtrawler58]

Well-said RS. That's the point I was trying to make. It may not be significant if fuel is $3 one year and $3.25 the next, but if it doubles or triples, it does become significant to most people and it affects how they will use their boat. For some on a limited budget or considering entering the market for the first time, a big jump in fuel prices like we are seeing now will be a deal-breaker for many. The US is about to announce boycotting Russian oil this morning, so it's likely going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Hippocampus]

B&B pursuant to
We'll just imagine we're in Europe or the Caribbean and the prices will seem normal.

Folks commonly would wait to go to Trinidad or Grenada. Diesel cheaper than elsewhere. Even now Biden is thinking of working a deal with Venezuela to keep prices down and availability up if EU pulls the trigger and disengages from Russian gas and petroleum. That move would mean Russia couldn’t afford to continue the razed earth decimation of Ukraine. My hope is opec stands up to plate and increases production but the Saudis feel beholden to Russia as Putin did cooperate with their price setting in the past. Think the Saudis actions will be a major determinant of how this goes.

 

[trihartsfield]

B&B pursuant to
We'll just imagine we're in Europe or the Caribbean and the prices will seem normal.

Folks commonly would wait to go to Trinidad or Grenada. Diesel cheaper than elsewhere. Even now Biden is thinking of working a deal with Venezuela to keep prices down and availability up if EU pulls the trigger and disengages from Russian gas and petroleum. That move would mean Russia couldn’t afford to continue the razed earth decimation of Ukraine. My hope is opec stands up to plate and increases production but the Saudis feel beholden to Russia as Putin did cooperate with their price setting in the past. Think the Saudis actions will be a major determinant of how this goes.

Why do we have to rely on nations that hate us for energy?

Makes no sense, except it is by design.

 

[hmason]

Just received an email from my marina that diesel price is increasing from $4.04 to $5.50/gal.

 

[BandB]

Just received an email from my marina that diesel price is increasing from $4.04 to $5.50/gal.

Just reviewed our revised projections for the year. Our assumption for fuel increased from $3/gallon to $6/gallon. Won't change our plans, but I think it will change cruising patterns for many, whether speed, less miles or pulling retirement funds to cover.

 

[Peter B]

To put things in perspective folks, we here downunder have been paying circa 7-8$A per gallon, depending on which kind of gallon you're talking about, for years. Lately I see it's around 9-10$A per gallon. (I see from the fuel price app, places where it is currently $A2.12/L).
However, most folk doing our sort of boating would still say it's one of the cheapest costs in their boating activity.

 

[bowball]

Just reviewed our revised projections for the year. Our assumption for fuel increased from $3/gallon to $6/gallon. Won't change our plans, but I think it will change cruising patterns for many, whether speed, less miles or pulling retirement funds to cover.

And the really rich don’t even make projections so it won’t affect them!

 

[NEtrawler58]

I hope I'm wrong but I'm beginning to think that $6/gal this summer will be a bargain.

 

[rslifkin]

Just reviewed our revised projections for the year. Our assumption for fuel increased from $3/gallon to $6/gallon. Won't change our plans, but I think it will change cruising patterns for many, whether speed, less miles or pulling retirement funds to cover.

$6 is my assumption for fuel cost at this point as well (up from $4). Next time we visit friends at a yacht club without a gas dock I might have to make some calls about a truck delivery and see if we can get a few boats together to load up on enough gas to get a better price than the fuel docks.

 

[Hippocampus]

TRF we don’t. Some years ago read about lumps of frozen gas scattered along the US east coast. Projections was there’s enough there to support our and Europe’s current usage for years to come.
Between green energy and improving mph our petroleum/gas use could be dramatically less with current technologies.
Think we need to really twist the arm of OPEC to increase production as in the time frame of weeks to months this would have the most meaningful impact. But agree with you. There’s a major downside to globalization. Especially for key natural resources (mining, energy, building materials, food stocks, water etc.).

 

[long-cours.62]

Lucky man !!

With diesel currently at $4.66 gallon and rising in SW Washington who are reconsidering their plans to cruise?

I had heard fuel at Port McNeill, Canada is $8.00 USD a gallon.

Yesterday I ask for delivery of few thousand liter for two motor yacht....
After 3 call and wait for few hours the answer was : "we can't get diesl, or fioul (red one) ore GNR (green one) or even professional one ( blue one), "rafineries" don't deliver any more, may be we found few hundred liter and the actual price is 2.78€ per liter "



It means 11.68$ a gallon

 

[rslifkin]

Yesterday I ask for delivery of few thousand liter for two motor yacht....
After 3 call and wait for few hours the answer was : "we can't get diesl, or fioul (red one) ore GNR (green one) or even professional one ( blue one), "rafineries" don't deliver any more, may be we found few hundred liter and the actual price is 2.78€ per liter "



It means 11.68$ a gallon

Hopefully that availability issue is short lived while refineries, etc. adjust where they're sourcing from.

 

[long-cours.62]

And actually

Hopefully that availability issue is short lived while refineries, etc. adjust where they're sourcing from.

in supermarket (it is the cheapest place)

It is over 2.32€ per liter

or 9.75$ a gallon...

 

[slowgoesit]

Thread warning!

Lets keep replies to whether or not rising fuel costs will affect your boating, and leave political comments, shall we?

 

[slowgoesit]

For most of us, the cost of fuel for our boats is a first world problem. We are still going to Alaska this Spring! Will higher fuel costs hurt? Yes. Will it stop us from going? NO.

 

[N4061]

No Change in plans

I'm starting to think my timing was good selling the trawler and deciding on something new (sailing). With the little electric motor and a single sail which I still need to install, gas prices are not an issue for us except for the cars and truck. Good thing we are only 13 miles from the harbor. If this sailing adventure works out and gas prices don't return to "normal" we may decide to look at electric power combined with solar panels on the next boat. Technology is starting to get interesting.

John T.

 

[NEtrawler58]

I'm not seeing any real political discussion here. Anyway, road diesel at a local station here is $5.19 today.